Wushu Videos and Books

1983 teaching videos

Where are they now?

Cai Yahui coaches wushu at the Beijing Wushu Team in Beijing.

Dong Honglin works in sports administration in Beijing.

Ge Chunyan coaches wushu in Singapore.

Geng Renhui?

Hao Zhihua coaches wushu in Berkeley, California (under the name of Patty Li).

Hui Xuna coaches wushu privately in Beijing.

Li Jinheng coaches wushu in Phoenix, Arizona.

Li Xia coaches wushu in Tokyo, Japan.

Li Zhizhou is a film director in Singapore.

Liang Changxing founded the Melbourne Uni wushu club in Australia some time ago. I think he is now coaching in the USA?

Lu Jinming coaches wushu at the Beijing Wushu Team in Beijing.

Lu Yan coaches wushu privately in Beijing. website

Tang Laiwei coaches wushu at the Monash wushu club, and at Tai Chi For Life in Melbourne, Australia

Wang Jianjun ?

Wang Jue coaches wushu in Chaoyang Sports School in Beijing.

Yu Shaowen coaches wushu in Portland, Oregon

Zhang Hongmei coaches wushu at Stanford Wushu Club, California

Zhang Xianming coaches wushu at the Beijing Wushu Team in Beijing.

These wushu videos are from the golden years of competition wushu – the digital version of Anthony Chan’s 1983 Beijing Team series.

Zhang Wenguang’s Chaquan is from the early 1980s, written when I was a student at Beiti.

My 1990 'Coaching Wushu' book, with all the photos, images, and tables of the original.

Coaching Wushu Volume Two continues the work of coaching wushu taolu athletes, with analyses of the events, assessment of the 2011 compulsory routines, and pointers on judging requirements.

Anthony Chan's 1983 video series, remastered in digital VCD format (project of Anthony and I): Classic wushu at its best.

This was the only teaching video made in China at that time, before our present period of dvds and youtube. Anthony chose the best of the best, the Beijing team, and filmed them performing their best event - each video has basics and competition routines. He put a lot of time, effort and money into this project. Each video is a small masterpiece, a jewel of perfection, it was sad that a new generation of wushu athletes had never seen them.

I am proud of my part in this project. These videos have not been available since the early 1980s. They were very expensive then, so few of us owned them. Anthony had the masters in his garage, and when I asked if I could use them to digitise them and bring them out again he said yes. The bonus for doing the work was that now I had a copy of every video!

I chose the VCD format because it is a) affordable for everyone, and b) can be played on any DVD player or on a computer. I use polyboxes for the packaging - an unbreakable, lighter version of the jewel box. If you have questions about VCDs, go to this website that sorts out the various types. They should play on any computer with a downloaded program and on any DVD player.

Go to see more detail:

Basics     Long Fist     Straight Sword

Broadsword     Cudgel (staff)     Spear

Three section staff     Nine section whip

Rope Dart     Drunken Fist

Monkey cudgel     Xingyiquan    Baguazhang (sold out)


The video series also available from Li Jinheng at World Martial Arts Supply.

In 2004 I did an interview with Dong Honglin, Lu Jinming, Lu Yan and Zhang Xianming. Go to Lu Yan's website to see the transcript of the interiew. I conducted and translated the interview but did not do anything with it, so I gave it to her for her site. It is a great, far ranging conversation on wushu - modern and classic. They are four wonderful people, and for that alone it is worth a read.

I talked to Bryant Fong about the original Beijing Wushu Team posters, and they are still available. Go to his website and click on posters. They are US$5 eaach, or US$30 for the set of six. I've got a set on my wall that I bought from him, and they are still in great shape after years in his basement. You can also get the posters from getwushu.com
All the photos that I am using for the artwork, and that are on the posters are also on Flickr, just click the Flickr thingee at the left side and take a look.
We are working with 20 year old master tapes, so please excuse the occasional slight fuzziness of the images. Do not expect DVD quality. You can see very clearly what is going on, and they are a vast improvement over the old VHS format. Another problem is the speed of these athletes - even in slow motion the image is often blurred. That was the technology back then, so that's the best we can get. Yet another problem is that I have to copy each master individually, so although some are short and some are long, the price is the same for all (and remember, the price of the old VHS tapes was US$65 each). Because of the age of the masters there was only one machine that could do the digitising process, and we couldn't find the mantis master when we did the others. So we are still wondering what to do about that. Even with all these 'problems' I am still proud to be bringing this classic series back to life.
Some people in the U.S. are having trouble playing the discs on older DVD players. No one has had trouble playing them on computers, either with a VCD player or a media player. I don't know exactly what the problem is, the discs are good, you just might have to try different ways to play them.
You don't have to believe me as I rave about Anthony Chan's video series, here are some viewers' comments.
"We have never seen the videos. Thank you so much for giving us copies, and thank you for your contribution to wushu." Cai Yahui, Dong Honglin, Lu Yan, Lu Jinping, Zhang Xianming, former Beijing Wushu team members and performers in the video series.
"Anthony over the years has done a lot of great work promoting Wushu. It would be such a shame if the 1983 film was not available to Wushu enthusiasts around the world. Thanks, Andrea for your efforts in bringing them out in VCD format." Tang Laiwei, former Beijing Wushu team member and performer in the video series.
"I have tried out a few of the [Beijing Wushu Team] discs and all play fine (my DVD player is VCD compatible). Li Xia is truly awesome. I watched the straightsword disc and 'This is Kung Fu' but have to stop for now since it's a work night!!" Diane F.
"Dear Ms. Falk, I can't thank you enough for resurrecting Anthony Chan's and Wu Bin's 1980s Beijing Wushu Team Training Video Series. The VCD format is perfect and the cover work colorful and exciting. I own many faded video copies of the original video series and am delighted to finally identify the faces of the wushu athletes. You have done the world wushu community the greatest service!" Ervin Nieves, martial arts author, Inside Kung Fu, Wushu Kung Fu, and Asian Cult Cinema magazines (USA)
"I received my order [of Beijing Team VCDs] a couple of weeks ago and have been watching and studying them over and over again. "THEY ARE FANTASTIC!! thanks a bunch." Sam Sujatna, Perth Australia
"I'm a little excited at the thought of viewing these disks for the first time. When they first hit the market in the '80s, I was young and didn't have money to purchase them myself... As a young person, I just assumed they would always be available. Guess I was wrong, huh? In any event, I'm very happy you've begun transferring them to disk and allowing the world a second chance to see them." Motty Augustus, Washington DC
"I received the VCD today and it was excellent. It was very neat to see Li Jinheng when he was about my age. Thank-you for the product and I will order from you again soon." Wayne Buoy
"Felt I just had to drop you a line to let you know that I've watched the Rope Dart VCD loads of times now and it still amazes me how the guy can seemingly wrap himself up in knots and then, as if by magic, strike the dart out! Its awesome. I thought nothing could beat the Basics VCD for repeat viewing, but this VCD is getting pretty darn close!" Chris Raynor, England.
"Good job, Andrea! This is the stuff that new and old Wushu fans MUST see, plus a well-deserved tribute to producer Anthony Chan and the first generation BWT athletes. Keep it up!" Antonio Flores
"Thank you so much for [the Beijing VCDs]. I really thought they were far better then the originals (clarity and the fact that I can now really freeze frame the picture)." Fred Whiting, Richmond.
"The VCDs are great! Thank you for making them available." Charles Wilk, Oregon.
"Thanks I have just received the vcd and would like to say its the best training manual I have ever brought. I am now in the process of ordering the rest of the series. Many thanks." John H Metcalf, England.
"Just e-mailing to let you know I recieved the Chang Chuan VCD and am absolutely thrilled to bits with it. Thank you ever so much I've been having a fantastic time watching it. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Wang Jian Jun's form, I have to say it, I have never seen any Chang Chuan form like this before ...definitely the best Chang Chuan I have ever seen!" "Next time you talk to Anthony Chan please thank him from me, thank him for making the best wushu tapes ever!!" Jesse Henning, England.
"Please put me down for the whole package deal!!! I am excited about seeing them again. I used to have it on Beta max!" "I just got the vcd you sent, what a rush!!! Thanks so much for the hard work you do to promote wushu." Shane Kachur, Regina.
"The packaging looks great, very professional, you've done a good job - the printed CDs look especially cool, they give the disks a real touch of class. Shame that the printers mispelt Beijing on the jewel case though." Chris Rayner, England. Doh!
October 18, 2022
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